District 9 (2009

2009
Sci Fi
"There are a lot of secrets in District 9."

Hey look I finally went and saw a movie in a theatre and not on DVD!
District 9 is one of the most talked about fims of the summer. It has also gotten near all positive reviews. And all that adoration is well deserved. This is a fantastic sci fi film that takes place in a fully realized world that helps to pose moral questions we can ask about our real world. Of course if you like your movies with a little less moral questioning and more people blowing up, District 9 is still the movie for you. It works great on both levels, either as a movie that gives you something to think about, or one that gives you a bunch of moments where you go "Oh shit, that was awesome."

For those that don't know the movie is about a broken down alien spaceship that comes to Earth. It is stranded here so we as humans have to figure out what to do with all the aliens on board. So we set up a camp for them in South Africa, that slowly turns into a slum. The parallels to South Africa's real life past are pretty obvious, but never really mentioned in the movie. Most of the human characters in the movie, forces tasked with moving the aliens to a new settlement, treat the aliens horribly. Though I feel that is probably realistic. The main character starts off sort of naive about the whole thing but after a key plot point begins to sympathize and work with the aliens. If anyone cares the aliens look like big grasshoppers, and they love cat food.

What amazed me most about District 9 was how real it felt. This is for two reason. The main being that it is mostly shot in a pseudo documentary style, like The Office, so you can feel how girtty and dirty the settings are. It also feels real because none of the actors are faces you would recognize, so they are the character, you aren't stopping to think "Hey Ben Affleck is good in this so far." I was probably most amazed that this special effects heavy, explostion laden, movie was made for only $30 million. It really makes me wonder how in the hell movies like Transformers cost $250 million to make. This is the debut movie from director Neil Blomkamp. If this is just his first attempt at directing I think it is safe to say we will be seeing much more awesome stuff from him down the road.

District 9 is one of the better sci fi movies to come in recent years. It was filmed on a small budget, by a first time director, starring a no name cast, but still manages to be top notch in everything it does. It looks great and feels real. Whether you like your sci fi to raise "What if..." questions or just wow you with what is on screen, it more than fits the bill.

4 out of 5 Stars